Considered as Bollywood royalty, the Kapoor family has been a well-known family in the Hindi entertainment industry. Being considered as one of the founding fathers of Hindi cinema, Prithiviraj Kapoor’s legacy was carried forward by his sons, nephews, grandkids, and not great-grandkids. This stereotype, that only the men of the family get to be a part of films, was broken when Randhir Kapoor’s daughters Kareena and Karisma made their foray into films. They made a name for themselves and garnered a huge following solely based on their talent.
While Rishi Kapoor’s son Ranbir is often considered the “chirag” of the family, it was Kareena and Karisma who took forward the legacy years before he even made his debut. Opening about the same, during a chat with Barkha Dutt for Mojo Story, the 44-year-old actress said that it was she and her sister who took the legacy forward.
Hindustan Times quoted her saying, “I think we’ve carried on the Kapoor legacy. It was only me and Karishma before Ranbir came in. So the two girls, actually like my mother says, they’re not tigresses, they are tigers because they did take the legacy forward.”
As soon as her quote surfaced on the internet, netizens rushed in to extend their support towards the Kapoor sisters for their efforts and breaking the cycle. One wrote, “Karishma walked before Kareena and Ranbir could run.” Another wrote, “Karishma did more than 50 films!! What a star.” One said, “Without a doubt it’s true. The sisters held the Kapoor legacy together for two decades before Ranbir showed up. He’s certainly benefited from their stardom. And they’ve all benefited from the folks that came before them.” Another said, “100% true! Give the girls the credit. Ranbir was declared the “future of Bollywood” on day 1… and yes he is good actor but he didn’t have to toil like Karishma had to prove her worth!”
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For those who don’t know, Karisma Kapoor was the first Kapoor woman to enter mainstream cinema 34 years ago with the film Prem Qaidi. At the age of 17, she broke her family’s long-standing tradition of only having male stars. Following her footsteps, the actress’ younger sister Kareena Kapoor made her Bollywood debut 25 years ago, alongside Abhishek Bachchan, in Refugee. Years later, Ranbir Kapoor made his debut with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film Saawariya, 18 years ago.